A New Crafty Adventure

Now that I've got my apartment mostly unpacked and set up, I wanted to get crafty but no matter how many times I pushed photos and bits around on a page I just wasn't feeling 'scrappy' so I decided that it was time to try something new... sewing!

My sweet Gram gave me a 'Fast & Easy' sewing machine for Christmas seven years ago; it has been used on lots of scrapbook pages but never with fabric and I thought it was about time that my sewing machine met some fabric!

So I did a little research online and found this really great blog (and Etsy shop) entitled Diary of A Quilter!  Amy Smart has designed some really amazing modern quilts and written a great step-by-step tutorial to get even the sewing challenged like me started quilting!  I'm hoping to tackle her 'Charm Pack Baby Quilt' in the next few weeks; since I do not have a baby nor know anyone who is expecting I think I may try to make this more of a throw blanket size for snuggling up on the sofa.  I chose this pattern because it required the least amount of cutting, the majority of the pieces are already cut for you by Moda!  (By the way, this is the same company that puts out BasicGrey, Cosmo Cricket and My Mind's Eye fabrics!)

To get myself motivated to sew I set up a little sewing center in my dining room 'den'...

Note the machine really is called the 'Fast & Easy' !



Here are the key components of my sewing center...

I bought a great book today that is written by Deborah Moebes and she actually wants me to love sewing! 
It's filled with lots of really useful information and great projects!  Click here to get your own copy of Stitch by Stitch.

Next I filled one of my favorite stack and lock containers with the sewing essentials I currently own... I see a trip to JoAnn's in my future, but in the meantime the machine instructions, thread, bobbins, needles and snips are handy!

I dug out my old iron... I guess we'll finally have to become friendly.

I made a trip to several quilting stores in my area to get inspired... I LOVE the yellow and grey bird fabric!
Here's where I went Holly's Quilt Cabin and Snappy Quilts, both are very cute shops!

And last, but not least, I changed out the needle on my sewing machine (probably a good idea after 7 years)
and set her all up with new thread and a freshly wound bobbin!

Now I'm off and running, hopefully I'll be back in the next few days with a little progress report!